WHEREAS, a decade after the Great Recession, there has been a dramatic, shift in the state of Chicago's housing market, moving from a time marked by a dramatic drop in housing prices and near halt in new housing construction, to today, when a combination of large-scale demographic and economic forces are transforming Chicago in a way that is unprecedented in its history; and

WHEREAS, as befits a world-class city, Chicago is increasingly attracting new and relocated businesses, highly skilled and well-educated residents, and new housing development, and while this contributes to its fast-paced economic growth, the City of Chicago recognizes that new development can also disrupt existing communities, displace residents, and cause many working-class families and individuals to find housing increasingly expensive and homeownership increasingly more difficult to achieve; and

WHEREAS, simultaneously, investment has bypassed sections of the city all too often, and while demand for housing is rising in some markets, other communities face flat or falling real estate prices, rising rates for unemployment, too many vacant lots and too few local opportunities, fueling population loss in some of the city's lower-cost neighborhoods; and

WHERAS, any plan for housing in Chicago must also take into account a history of racial discrimination and policies that left parts of the city thriving and other parts struggling, and incorporate programs to reverse these trends, recognizing that the...